M.Arch Design Studio 4
march 2025
with Francesca Mercurio

How do we achieve density without creating repetitious, uninspired architecture? How do we continue to produce vibrancy within the gestalt of Little Portugal? Simple – by fighting repetition, privileging colour and utilizing the single loaded corridor as collective space. Berries & Cream is a building comprised of spatially and formally diverse elements that come together to create a tasty, collective spirit. The edifice wraps Dundas and Ossington’s northwest corner with sometimes varying volumetric forms and materiality that responds to the dynamism of a mixed-use, densifying neighbourhood. A conventional L-shape volume that has been tilted, punctured, pulled to create an unusually fun form.

Inside the courtyard, pleated façade is clad by a grid of green balconies serving as the heart and soul of the project – the collective veranda. The veranda, with its comfortable 2.5 m width, becomes more than just a means of egress, its where residents convene, chit chat, maybe grow a tomato or two. The balconies are vertically connected by two core structures, semitransparent signals of circulation and communion. The pleats themselves are fenestrated by a series of window arrays rooted in whimsey but also relating to the domestic programming within – combating the scourge of repetition that plagues the language of densification in this city.

Berries & Cream is a love-letter to the human desire for delight, familiarity and colour. This building is enunciated vibrancy in an often grey city.